Let's turn this disastrous home stretch around. Kings are struggling too. Come out quick and don't let up. Play a full 60 for once. Please?

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KINGS (3-5-2) at BLUES (6-4-1)

TV: FS-W, FS-MW

Last 10: St. Louis 5-4-1.

Season series: This is the first of three meetings. The Kings won three of four last season.

Big story: Jaroslav Halak is back. The goalie has been activated after missing three games with a groin strain, and it couldn’t have come at a better time for the Blues. St. Louis went 0-2-1 without Halak, conceding 17 goals. Halak’s return is bad news for Los Angeles, however, as the Kings’ offensive struggles leave them tied for the fewest points (eight) in the Western Conference.

Team scope:

Kings: With their goal-scoring woes so far this season, the Kings were likely hoping Halak would remain sidelined just a little longer. Los Angeles ranks 25th in goals per game (2.10) and is tied for the League-low in goals scored (21). Offensive inefficiencies were apparent in the Kings’ last two outings, a 3-0 shutout at the hands of Nashville and a 3-2 nail-biter against Detroit.

Against the Red Wings, the Kings looked better offensively, firing 47 shots on goalie Jimmy Howard, but managing only two goals. The second came from Alec Martinez in the final minute to tie the game at two, but the Red Wings responded with the winner with 4.5 seconds left on the clock.

"That was our best game of the year," Kopitar said. "Playing like that, you're going to win more times than not."

Blues: It’s been a rough February for St. Louis. After winning six of their first seven to open the season, the Blues have gone zero-for-February, taking just one point from four games. After three lopsided divisional losses – two to Detroit and one to Nashville – St. Louis welcomed surging Anaheim to the Scottrade Center on Saturday. The Blues trailed after two periods but got goals from T.J. Oshie and Chris Stewart to send the game to overtime tied 5-5. They ultimately fell in the shootout when Anaheim converted four of six chances. Brian Elliott conceded four or more goals for the third straight game.

"A goalie's no different than a defenseman or a forward," Hitchcock said. "Guys come in and out of the lineup based on their performance. You can't stay in the lineup if you don't play well. I don't care who you are. He's got to play better."

Who’s hot: Stewart got off to a hot start this season, but faded along with his teammates in February. He raised his game against Anaheim, scoring a goal and two assists as well as converting in the shootout.

Injury report: For Los Angeles, Willie Mitchell is day-to-day with a knee injury and Matt Greene is out indefinitely with a back injury. … Blues forward Jamie Langenbrunner has been playing through hip pain this season and decided over the weekend he would undergo surgery. He is out indefinitely.

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Last edited by dmiles2186 on Mon Feb 11, 2013 9:46 am, edited 1 time in total.

The Blues NEED to win this game. The Kings played a very rough, hard checking game and lost it in the last couple of seconds last night. They should be physically and emotionally sapped right now. Once Again, the Blues have had a day of rest going into a home game against a team that played on the road the previous night. I will accept nothing less than a regulation win in this game, especially considering the Blues recent skid. Hopefully having Halak back will make a difference. Oh, I haven't seen the line-up yet, but Cole had better be playing. I don't care if Redden or Russel sits, Cole earned his spot in the top 6 last game. He looked like the only one who gave a (Frank) last game. Pietrangelo made a few very terrible plays last game(bringing the puck out in front of his own net while the opposing team was sending two fore-checkers is a HUGE no-no, and I saw him do it at least twice last game). It seems that Pie has been disregarding the basics a bit too much this season.

I believe what Hitch meant was if Halak can't go, there's no way on the planet Ells would go, they'd just summon Allen back from Peoria to get the start. One way or another, Ells wouldn't be playing. The same way Stewart shouldn't be playing tonight and the same way Perron shouldn't be playing tonight.

But, since I reckon they both are, I'll just call it now: Kings 5, Blues 3. Kings score a couple on really bad giveaways where DP was trying to tiptoe between 4 men and just couldn't cut it. They'll also score on a couple power plays where the team had multiple chances to clear the zone but couldn't get it out. And number 5 will be an empty netter.

By the way, Perron will score a pair so everyone will ignore the fact that for every pretty goal he's scoring, he's coughing up the puck four or five times in the offensive zone.

Halak injured again in pregame warmups, Elliott terrible again, already down 2-0. It's time to start wondering if we're going to sacrifice the season for a guy who got fired by Columbus. What are the options?

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dhabums wrote:

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Halak injured again in pregame warmups, Elliott terrible again, already down 2-0. It's time to start wondering if we're going to sacrifice the season for a guy who got fired by Columbus. What are the options?

Halak injured again in pregame warmups, Elliott terrible again, already down 2-0. It's time to start wondering if we're going to sacrifice the season for a guy who got fired by Columbus. What are the options?

So you're blaming this skid on Hitch? Settle down.

Do we really have any other options? You can't fire the players in a 48-game season, and he's used every rhetorical feature he has. You have two choices: either keep Hitch for the season and either sink (thereby pretty much demanding a rebuild and decimating your fanbase) or swim, or fire him and hope a new voice salvages the season.

_________________

dhabums wrote:

You and your buddies here are a joke and most of this site knows it.

Sponsor of Having A Real Good Time, Happy Pony, and all those who suffer from being right all the time.

Halak injured again in pregame warmups, Elliott terrible again, already down 2-0. It's time to start wondering if we're going to sacrifice the season for a guy who got fired by Columbus. What are the options?

So you're blaming this skid on Hitch? Settle down.

Do we really have any other options? You can't fire the players in a 48-game season, and he's used every rhetorical feature he has. You have two choices: either keep Hitch for the season and either sink (thereby pretty much demanding a rebuild and decimating your fanbase) or swim, or fire him and hope a new voice salvages the season.

Or give him more than a week to try and right the ship. LA struggled most of last year and got hot at the right time and won a cup. It's a short season, so yes there is little room for error, but a coaching change in this environment would be a disaster. Give it some time.... Hell, at least give it more than a week and a half. Get down off the ledge man.

Holy crap, we're terrible. So either we really suck and were seriously overachieving at the beginning of the season, or we're really awesome and are seriously underachieving now. How do we determine which is reality?

In my opinion, we weren't that great earlier either. We had a few good games in the beginning, especially against Red Wings and Predators at home, but a lot of sloppy performances too, like the ones against Stars and BJ's. I just think we got saved by some good offense in those games, which meant the defensive problems wasn't dealt with properly. This looks like a completely different team this year and it's a lot because we're playing a in a different way. This year it's seems to be offense first, and with some highly skilled players up front we've scored a lot of goals, but this also means a lot of turnovers and defending with two or three players instead of last years five. Goaltending has been bad, yes. But they're not half as protected today as they were last season. It's really about starting to play the right way again and therein lies the biggest challenge for Hitch.

Who do you think Backes was talking about when he said that some players were thinking more of their own stats and how to score than playing with a team first mentality? My guess is definitely Perron, from my standpoint he's the only guy that stands out playing for himself, always trying the most difficult solution.

Oh, and what the hell is Dags doing on a fourth line? Play him on some other line or bench his ass. He's as far from a fourth line grinder as you can ever be.

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